Christie's tax cut talk falls flat with N.J. voters

View full sizeTim Larsen/Governor's OfficeGov. Chris Christie speaks on the beach in Manasquan earlier this week.

So what if he lost his cool on the boardwalk? New Jersey is still smitten with Gov. Chris Christie, giving him a 54 percent approval rating despite saying the best two words to describe him are “bully” and “arrogant.” Go figure.

But voters are not buying his line on tax cuts, despite the “endless summer” of town hall meetings that are turning out to be endless blather about New Jersey’s fictitious “comeback.”

New Jersey can’t afford a tax cut now, and it’s not even close. One reason is that the state budget is rigged to explode over the next few years because both parties conspired to put off paying for pension and transportation costs that can’t be avoided.

Another reason is that the state’s economy is still spinning its wheels in the mud, unable to get traction, even as some neighboring states start to move.

Democrats want to wait six months and see if the economy picks up before locking in the tax cut. The governor wants to make the leap today, in time for the Republican National Convention.

Either way, the cuts won’t take effect until next year. So when the governor pretends he’ll give you tax cuts sooner than Democrats will, that is just more politics. The good news is that most people in New Jersey realize that.